Growing up is a major theme throughout The Catcher and the Rye.
Holden is in between the child and adult stages, and cannot decide which one he
wants to be. He often acts immature and
has very little self-esteem. “‘Boy!’ I
said. I also say ‘Boy!’ quite a lot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary
and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was sixteen then,
and I'm seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I'm about thirteen. It's really
ironical, because I'm six foot two and a half and I have gray hair. I really
do. The one side of my head – the right side – is full of millions of gray
hairs. I've had them ever since I was a kid. And yet I still act sometimes like
I was only about twelve. Everybody says that, especially my father. It's partly
true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think something's all true. I
don't give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act
my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am – I really do – but people never
notice it. People never notice anything.” (Salinger 9). Holden realizes what his problem is, but
fails to do anything about it. He thinks
that people tell him to do better, but expect him to fail if he does. This affects him both mentally and
socially. Without the encouragement of
an adult, Holden will continue to feel depressed and useless. His isolated behavior is a result of a
childhood that lacked strong adult influence and encouragement. He had good parents, but he did not seem to
be very close to either of them. Holden
would end up learning the hard way that one must grow up sometime. Though all the details are not present, it is
stated at the beginning of the novel that Holden ends up in a mental institute
because of an emotional breakdown.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.
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